Brazil, Vietnam discuss plane, beef deals and BRICS summit

28/3/2025 14:48

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday Vietnam may buy Embraer planes and become a regional hub for Brazilian meat processing operations, as he met Vietnam's President Luong Cuong in Hanoi.



Lula also recognised the Communist-run country as a market economy, invited Vietnam to attend a BRICS summit in Brazil later this year and pledged a Mercosur trade agreement with Hanoi.



Lula's second visit to Vietnam comes as Hanoi, under pressure from the Trump administration to reduce its large trade surplus, has promised to boost U.S. imports, including farm products such as soybeans of which Brazil is a top exporter to the country.



At a media conference with Lula, Cuong said Vietnam was "seriously considering" allowing Brazilian beef into the country.



"Opening the Vietnamese market to Brazilian beef would attract investment from Brazilian meat packers to make this country an export platform for Southeast Asia," Lula said.



Brazilian food giant JBS is considering building a meat-processing plant in northern Vietnam, its first in Asia, if Vietnam opens its market to Brazilian beef, Reuters reported last week citing sources.